Spurs lighting it up from long range during win streak

Anyone seeking the common thread that runs through each installment of the Spurs’ 11-game winning streak need not look beyond their 3-point shooting.

The team’s sharpshooters have produced an average of 32 points per game during their best stretch of the season, connecting on 45.9 percent of their shots (118 of 257) from beyond the arc.

In the 14 games since the All-Star break, the Spurs have lost only once, on Feb. 21, at Phoenix. That was the only game of the 14 they did not shoot at least 37 percent from long range.

Guard Danny Green, whose 249 3-point attempts this season have been exceeded only by Patty Mills’ 257, has an easy explanation for the success.

“That’s what happens when you move the ball,” he said. “That’s the result of us finding each other, making plays for teammates. Offensively, our chemistry is that much better and we’re shooting a higher percentage.”

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, an early adapter to a 3-point shooting emphasis that has spread league-wide, encourages hockey-like ball movement.

“Pop’s done a great job of emphasizing good to great, penetrate and pitch and getting more open looks,” Green said.

Even players who don’t rank among the busiest of the Spurs’ 3-point shooters agree the long ball is vital to success.

“In the NBA of today you have to make threes,” said leading scorer Tony Parker, who has attempted only 62 long balls in 55 games. “When we made it to the Finals, we made a lot of threes. You’re going to have to make those shots if you’re going to go deep in the playoffs.”

The Spurs’ shot chart from long-range is every bit as robust as you’d expect:

Outside of the left corner, where they’re almost exactly at the league average, the Spurs are outperforming their competitors in each of the other four zones: plus 10.9 percentage points above the left break; plus 4.3 points from straightaway; plus 10.4 points above the right break; and a whopping plus 24.6 points in the right corner.